Monday Reading - More Books to Love

              Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they've been reading, along with others who post their favorites. I'm sharing many books today, combining some new ones with  others I want to be sure to share in case they are new to you readers.

             Thanks to Charlesbridge for the copy of this terrific book!

      Jade Levy is tired of Tiveda, Colorado. Everyone leaves and her family was supposed to also until her dad got sick. She struggles to make friends, at least is tired of making new ones, so she writes herself a friend in a special notebook! Now she's in command, able to have fun with a friend who won't leave until Jade herself wants her to. Then this friend, Zoe, appears for real across the street and the experiences with her and other kids at school become a bit strange but really fun, at first. 

       Reading the story and its underlying sadness made me sad, too. Jade does need a friend, especially now that her dad is ill, stays in a chair most days and her mother doesn't seem able to stop being busy. Change hurts kids more than they might ever tell their loved ones and this feels like someone keeping too many secrets until finally, she does find someone who cares. However, even that takes a while for her to trust this boy she knows, until she discovers he has a secret, too. There are strong voices all the way through the story, making me hope that readers who find this story will find needed connections and some hope, too.  

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC of this book by Gae Polisner.

            Some may believe this is "make-believe", but Gae Polisner's new story, out next April, shows one girl's life in all its reality; all its hopes, some horribly dashed; yet, she keeps on, making choices that are "right" for her. Will you agree with every part?  Perhaps not, but in the turmoil of this young teen whose father is away for work longer and longer, whose mother is drifting away in a heart-breaking mental disorder, and whose bestie Aubrey has drifted on to other girlfriends, readers will cling with her as they wish her better days. 

          JL writes her story in a long journal/letter to Aubrey about everything that has happened since the two stopped being friends. It moves back and forth in time, layer upon layer. JL Markham is fifteen, now finding some pleasant hours with the tropical butterflies she has recently been raising, and in Max, a new love, but an older senior who'll be leaving town soon. The age gap is of some concern, but Max seems JL's only anchor at this time. The plight of a young girl with few people to turn to fills us readers with worry, something we all might consider if we have the time to take with a young person. Polisner has offered much to ponder in this book!

         Questioning, questioning is part of what Gae Polisner shows JL doing: Should she leave with Max? Can she leave her mother without anyone to care for her? How can she find her special friendship with Aubrey again? How far can she go sexually to show she loves Max? The inner turmoil shown with JL telling her story is poignant, feels very real to me, although I suspect teens hide problems too well from the adults in their lives, perhaps the biggest tragedy? And perhaps adults should be reading this story, too?

            I had this on my Kindle and read most of it on the plane coming home last weekend. This is a fast read and I imagine most middle school readers will like it, full of adventure and about a thirteen-year-old Irish boy stuck in Berlin during World War II. His father is the ambassador to Ireland and what Michael O'Shaunessey doesn't know until the night of Kristallnacht is that his parents are spies. Ireland was neutral in this war and was often criticized for that decision, but in his author's note, Gratz explains that after the war it was discovered that many Irish in this situation served as spies and helped the Allies in the war. I didn't care for the book as much as the others I've read by Alan Gratz. It felt too fabricated, too "all works out". Like Gratz's others, however, it is based on historical truth. The parts about the indoctrination of Hitler Youth are frightening. It is hard to believe that such actions might happen with a thirteen-year-old taking care of his own spying responsibilities. I will say that those times are not today and sadly, they probably happened more than I can imagine.     

            Off "Across the Bay" is where young Carlitos wants to go because he misses his Papi and wants to find him. What a brave boy to get going on his quest! Though he loves his home with his mother, his Abuela, and his cat Coco, this call to find that missing father is strong. Carlos Aponte's text and illustrations take us with Carlitos across the bay to the heart of Puerto Rico. He looks, he asks people if they know his Papi with his only picture. Through meeting all kinds of people in all kinds of places, we too get to know part of this city. What happens at the end is not exactly a happy one, but gives Carlitos a new feeling for home. 

          I waited too long to read this book and it is one to crow about! A young girl searches, creates maps, all over the world (in her imagination) for the best show and tell. It's a "must-see" book for seeing the fabulous maps created by Deborah Marcero (and this little girl). And a "must-read" to discover the ending.

         I have enjoyed every book by Sarah Stewart and David Small, and one more about books is certainly welcomed. This, a bit connected to the wonderful NYC library shows in a brief poem how different people love a book. You have to see and read it and then you'll have another "book that's yours"!

          Thanks also to Charlesbridge for these next two books, now out in paperback!

   
           At a young girl's family's music store, a narrative shares the strand of visitors as she writes poems celebrating the various music and dances from Latin America. For example, on her quinceanera, a mariachi band played all afternoon. She writes of her great-great-grandparents as slaves in Uruguay who beat upon their drums, dancing the candombé. This one seems to be a lovely poetic memory:

                                      When lonely mother Africa
                                       heard their sounds across the sea,
                                       she sent a message back:

                                                                         Children,
                                                           please
                                                                  come
                                                                       home
                                                                              to
                                                                                  me.

        The backmatter includes an author's note and short paragraphs adding information about each of the dances. The narrative is in black and white while the poems about the dances are illustrated in vivid and musical color! It's a lovely book that introduces the music many will love to read about.

          This is a marvelous book of stories, from all over Mexico and it not only includes the tales themselves but pages after them that share about the people and the animals in that place and adds a glossary for the language included. I was so excited to read "Mosni's Search", A Seri Tale, because my students traveled to the state of Sonora and spent time with the Seri Indians, visited the beautiful Isla Tiburon in the Sea of Cortez, their original home. There is an extensive bibliography in the back matter, plus web and tale resources and an index. Illustrations by Fabricio VandenBroeck are full-color beauties that accompany each tale.        

        Found at my library, had to share because people need to know how much we have had help from the Muslim community in the past. Its history is a part we've not been told.

         An older book that would be a great one to share today, too, about the Muslims who did so much to help save Jews and others like downed pilots during the Paris Occupation by the Nazis. 

Next: Not sure yet! There are so many I want to read!